Catch for grain-car doors



(No Model.) I D. P. VAN LIEW.

CATCH FOR GRAIN GAR DOORS. No. 278,377. Patented May 29,1883.

b makin a central )cnin in the retainin .i a b UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DENNIS F. VAN LIEW, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS.

CATCH FGR GRAIN-CAR DOORS.

. SPECIFICATION forming, part of Letters Patent No. 278,377, dated May 29, 1883.

" Application tiled December 21, 1882. (No model.) i I I i To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, DENNIS F. VAN Draw, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in Aurora, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Catches for Grain-GarDoors,ot' which the following is a specification.

y This invention relates to the construction of the hinged catch employed in connection with flexible grain-car doors-such as are shown in the patent to A. B.. Allen, No. 260,920, dated July 11, 1882for holding said doors in the raised or open position, and'is an improvement upon the catch described in said patent. As shown in said patent, and as heretofore constructed, the catch is hinged between two projections upon the disk of metal (whereby the device is secured to the plate of the car) by means of a wrought-iron pivot passing through the projections and catch.

In my present improvement I have sought to lessen the cost of the device by dispensing with the wrought pivot and avoiding the drillin g of the projections and catch necessary in the old construction; and I accomplish this or holding disk, through which the catch may be insertedfrom the back sideof the disk, and by casting upon the sides of the catch itself the ears which serve as the pivots upon which it is oscillated and as the retainingstops which prevent its withdrawal from the front of the disk. The disk and its projections are recessed at the sides of the central opening, to receive the ears of the catch, and .the catch is provided with a shoulder upon the under side, adapted to engage with that portion of the disk below the central opening,

so that the catch cannot fall below a horizontal position, as will be presently more fully explained.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in which similar letters indicate like parts, Figure 1 is a transverse section of a car, upon a. plane through the doorway. Fig. 2 shows a side door, moving in guidewaysG at the side of the door-opening and extending up under the roof.

D is the catch to which my invention relates, and itis shown as performing its function of holding the door up in Fig.1. It is provided with pivotal ears d,cast integral with it, as indicated in the drawings. The disk by which the catch is held is marked E5, and is secured to the plate F of the car by screws passing through the openings f. Centrally through this disk is an opening, 6, large enough to permit the passage through from the back side of the catch. At each side of this opening and upoif its front side are projections e, and these projections are recessed,

asshown, to afford bearings for the pivotal ears 6?, as shown at 0 The catch is prevented from falling below the horizontal position by the contact ofits shoulder 01 with the portion c of the disk below the main opening a.

My invention permits the manufacture of the device without any special fitting or fast-- eningof the parts together. At the same time it is as strong or stronger than the old construction. The opening in the disk is not such as to permit the putting in or withdrawal of the catch by moving it in a horizontal line; but the catch is raised and lowered to allow the passage of the hook end and the avoidance of contact between the shoulders d and the point 0 7 My invention permits the catch to be lifted by the door when it is being opened, and allows the catch to automatically drop into position to engage the door, as shown in the drawings,.after the door has been raised beyond it. In these respects it is similar to the catch shown in the patent to Allen, above referred to.

I claim- The device for holding up car-doors, consisting of. the catch having the pivotal cars and the shoulder d, and the retaining-disk having the central opening, permitting theinsertion of the catch from the back thereof, the.

recesses for the pivotal ears, and the part 6 below the central opening, substantially as DENNIS F. VAN. LIEW.

Witnesses:

H. M. MUNDAY,

T. EVERETT BROWN. 

